Betrayal
by DinoBerry
Summary: Calm quiet life quickly turned to hell when the girls are kidnapped and put into a creepy mansion where death and betrayal are inevitable. Follow Akemi Homura as she ventures through this cursed place in attempt to escape from the kidnapper's clutches. What does the kidnapper hope to achieve? What does betrayal have to do with it? And just who is the mastermind behind this chaos?
1. Twisted Beginnings

Fanfiction collaboration. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (c) not us**

**Claimer: everything else (c) mostly us. **

**Please R&R!**

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**_Chapter One: Twisted Beginnings_**

_*Ring, ring, ring, ring...*_

The alarm clock went off, breaking the silence. A lone figure rose from the purple mattress.

She whispered "Madoka..." with a single tear drop dripping down across her left cheek. She quickly wiped away the tear and thought, _Why am I crying? Did I have a nightmare?_

After a moment of pondering, Akemi Homura decided that there was no point in wasting any more time on trying to remember what was already forgotten. Doing her signature hair flick, she got off the bed and turned off the alarm. After brushing her teeth, combing her hair, and putting on her favorite headband and school uniform, she headed to the door.

"I'm off…" she called out to no one in particular, then caught herself, realizing what she had said. _What am I doing…_ she mused, _I live alone so no one will respond…_

"_Have a safe trip!"_

A gentle female voice echoed through the supposedly-empty halls.

_Oh yeah my mom and dad came back from the business trip._

Smiling, Homura made haste and quickly headed to school to meet up with her friends, especially her best friend Kaname Madoka.

Homura couldn't help but notice the foliage all around her on the path to school. It was springtime so the _sakura _were in full bloom - a cloud of white petals fringed with pale pink casting their shadows onto passersby. Glimmers of sunlight dotted the path, illuminating the flowers growing around the bases of the trees, drawing more attention to them than they would on their own. The white daisies, lilies and magnolias stood still, greeting each passerby with nothing more than their innocent purity. It was a perfect example of the harmony of nature.

_This is nice. _She thought, as she approached the hill leading up to the school.

On the hill leading up to the school, Homura saw four girls waiting for her: Sakura Kyoko, Miki Sayaka, Tomoe Mami, and Kaname Madoka.

"Homura! Over here!"

Madoka was waving to Homura who was now only a few metres away. Homura immediately broke into a slight jog while waving back. Amongst the shadows, a small figure hid behind a tree, observing these young girls, a mischievous gleam in their eyes as an ill-natured smirk crossed their lips.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

After a long day, class had finally ended and the girls were chatting away about the day's random topic about boyfriends and how they liked their eggs. Feeling sorry for the teacher they joked around about getting her a boyfriend while enjoying parfaits at the local dessert house. Time flew by and the sun was beginning to set, signalling that the day was finally coming to an end.

Homura and Madoka waved goodbye to the group and headed down a road, Madoka leading the way and Homura trailing behind her.

"... So in the end, Tatsuya ran right into my dad!"

Homura smiled as she replied, "Wow, were they both okay?"

"Tatsuya was fine since he has a hard head, but my dad almost burst into tears!" Madoka chuckled.

"R-really?" Homura asked, surprised.

She took a moment to enjoy the look of astonishment on Homura's face before bursting out into laughter. "Hehehe, just kidding! They both laughed and kept playing tag."

Giggles filled their conversation till they eventually reached an intersection and halted to a stop. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon now, casting an orange glow on the pair. Unfortunately here was where they had to part ways.

"Well, see you tomorrow Homura!" Madoka said brightly.

"See you!" Homura responded with equal cheerfulness.

At the sight of Madoka's adorably gentle smile, she couldn't help but feel grateful to know her. To her, Madoka was like a sunflower; she was strong, lively, bright, and she was never afraid of being herself. Homura really admired that, and it always inspired such confidence in her. Homura knew that she would always try to better herself as long as it was for Madoka. It was the reason why she didn't hesitate to respond so cheerfully - it truly made them both happy.

Madoka's gentle smile with her head at a slight tilt caused Homura to blush a little. Just as Homura was about to turn and head home she saw a change in Madoka's expression from joy to distress.

_What's wrong? _Homura wondered, and she noticed Madoka was looking past her.

She was about to turn around, when suddenly a sharp pain sprung from the back of her neck and everything faded to black…

xXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Homura opened her eyes, finding herself in a dark room. As she tried to get up, there was a sharp stinging in the back of her neck. Tears slowly formed in her eyes, and she attempted to wipe away the premature tears with her right wrist. She then noticed that there was a mysterious watch attached to her wrist, so she instead used her left wrist to wipe away the tears before examining the foreign gadget on her wrist. Suddenly, the LED screen on the watch switched on and she saw an all-too familiar doll staring at her.

"Hello Homura, welcome to the greatest game ever! Welcome to a game where trust, talents, and deducting skills will be tested! There will be excitement, drama, and different sides of people will be revealed! The only cost is… you're… life…."

The doll began to snicker while the last few words were being comprehended in Homura's mind.

"What are you doing?! What do you want from me?! Where am I?!" she demanded, panic resounding in her voice.

It was only then when she remembered she had been with Madoka when she was abducted.

"Where is Madoka?!" Homura howled, "What have you done with her?!"

"Calm down, calm down," the doll chided. "Like you, she is stuck somewhere. Locked from everything… even from air…" The doll snickered once more, bemused by their situations.

The screen flashed off and once again Homura was left alone in the dark, damp room.

"I must get out of here and find Madoka," she murmured determinedly to herself.

With a newfound resolve, she headed towards the door with the hope that there was a slight chance that the door was unlocked. Sadly, Lady Luck was not on her side and the door was sealed tightly shut. However, Homura noticed that there was a hole which seemed to have a shape of a ring. There was also some faint wording etched on the door which she barely was able to make out.

_Look for the ring to open the door. For the ring is the beginning of betrayal and adventure and the ending of …_

Unfortunately the rest was unreadable. But Homura shook her head, thinking that the rest wasn't important enough to warrant a second thought.

_Right now finding Madoka is my top priority,_ she thought, as she turned around and scanned the room.

In the right corner of the room there was a prison-movie bed, as well as a sink on the left corner of the room. Across from the bed was also a giant briefcase with another ring-shaped keyhole, as well as a shattered mirror to its left. The broken glass from the mirror was scattered haphazardly around the briefcase. She decided to investigate the case first since it seemed the most likely to contain the ring. She looked all around the case and underneath it too, taking care to avoid cutting herself on the glass, to no avail. Next she checked the bed, tearing off the pillow case, sheet, and mattress using the broken glass.

Suddenly a glimmer caught Homura's eye while she was shredding the mattress, stopping for a moment and picking it up. It was a silver ring with a pink gem embedded in it.

_Could this be for the door?_ Homura wondered curiously.

Deciding to take the chance, she went back to the door and pushed the ring into the keyhole. It fit perfectly!

The door unlocked and air gushed into the room. Immediately a foul stench invaded the room causing Homura to nearly puke. Peering out into the dark hall, Homura's eyes widened at what she saw: corpses, loads of them. Rotting bodies lay scattered across the floor, some hanging on chains.

Homura twisted her head around and began to cough, the putrid smell lingering in her nostrils.

_What kind of twisted place is this? _ She thought.

Forging her resolve she steps out of the room and slowly proceed. The smell seemed to come from the rotting flesh of the corpses. Some corpses had some flesh left, some were just bones. Her room seemed to be at the end of the corridor, so she proceeded forwards. After a minute of walking with nothing but corpses and walls, she noticed a window on the left up ahead.

Thoughts of hope, chance, and freedom popped up in her head as she dashed to the window. But the moment she peered out, whatever hope that existed in her heart was immediately crushed. As far as the eye could see, a dark forest stretched across the land. Faint moonlight from a waning moon illuminated the area directly in front of Homura, but it was clear that it was pitch black further out.

Most young people live their lives without ever experiencing raw nature. To them, nature was something kind and gentle, but that couldn't have been farther from the truth. Homura was beginning to see this first-hand. The lush greenery that she always believed would be beautiful and tame was overgrown and overbearing. Cold, indifferent, completely oblivious to human life, the forest outside was only concerned with growth. The trees were large enough to put skyscrapers to shame, but at the base, only moss, grass and ivy could thrive. What used to be flowers, struggling to find their place in the forest, were now dead and rotting, fated to be nourishment for the plants that were still alive.

_No way… _ Homura dropped to her knees and tears start swelling on her eyes.

"Madoka… where are you… This is too cruel…" she whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself.

… _Locked from everything… even from air… _Recalling what the doll had told her, Homura steeled her resolve, knowing that there was something more important than finding a way to escape right now. _ I mustn't cry. I must find Madoka before it's too late!_

The moment Homura stood up and was about to proceed down the corridor, a familiar voice rang out behind her. To Homura, this voice was the voice of a goddess.

"Homura! Thank goodness I was able to find someone!"

Homura slowly turned around and saw Madoka running up to her with a similar watch attached to her right wrist.

"...Ma...do...ka?" she murmured, her voice raspy with disbelief and doubt. _Is my mind playing tricks on me? _ She thought, tears welling in her eyes.

"Homura!"

Madoka jumped and collided into Homura, knocking her down onto the ground. Madoka was crying and continued to cling onto Homura.

"I was so scared!" Madoka cried, "I heard you were sealed in an airtight room and I got scared and thought of the worst possible thing! But thank God you're safe!"

_This is not an illusion… _ Homura realized. The tears she had been fighting back immediately started spilling out her eyes uncontrollably.

"Madokaaaaa…" she wailed, wrapping her arms around her friend, "I was terrified of what might have happened to you… but now I know you're okay. We have to hurry and get out of here!"

"We can't!" Madoka protested, pulling Homura up, "The doll told me the others are also trapped in here. We can't just leave them behind!"

_So the doll spoke to her too. _Homura made a mental note of it.

"I understand." Homura agreed with a nod, "We'll find them, and we'll all leave this place together!"

The two girls proceeded onwards down the corridor. There were a few locked doors and one of them contained a door with a slot that seemed just large enough to fit a ring. There was one unlocked door which led to what seemed to be a janitor closet. There were some chemicals, buckets, brooms, rubber gloves, and rubber boots lying around inside. But otherwise there didn't seem to be anything important in the room, so they left it alone and eventually reached a door at the end of the corridor. It seemed oddly out of place, not unlike a door to a mysterious fairy tale world. All the doors the two had seen so far had been cold and grey, but this door… this door was whimsical and inviting. Butterflies, chocolate, leaves, fire… all of these came together to form an intricate border, framing a large, red rose.

"What could be past this door?" Homura wondered aloud as she reached for the handle.

"Madoka, I'm opening the door. Are you ready?" she asked, making sure they both had time to prepare.

Homura looked back at Madoka, and she nodded in response. Swinging the door open, Homura and Madoka squinted their eyes due to the bright light. When their eyes adjusted, they noticed they were in a foyer or something alike. There were 3 more doors in this giant room and there was also a giant staircase where it split off in two different directions. At the end of the two staircases there seemed to be 2 doors as well. Standing in front of the staircase, there was one door to the left where they came from, two doors to the right, and one big door behind them which seemed to be the exit. They immediately headed to the exit, to see if it was locked or not. Sure enough, it was locked shut.

"Locked… I guess we'll need a key if we want to open this door." Madoka murmured in disappointment.

"Yeah…" Homura nodded in agreement.

They suddenly heard two clicks, and upon turning they saw two of the doors open, one of them revealing Sayaka and Kyoko, while the other was Mami. Homura noticed that all of their right wrists bore the exact same LED watch she had.

"Everyone! You're all safe!" Madoka ran to the three newcomers and grasped each one of their hands.

"Heya!" Kyoko greeted with a grin. She was holding a stick of green pocky in her mouth with her teeth.

"Ha, of course I'm safe," Sayaka responded confidently, "No creepy pervert will ever keep me locked up!"

"Ha stop acting tough Sayaka, you were clinging onto me saying how we were doomed five minutes ago," the redhead snickered teasingly, "Heehee."

Sayaka reddened in response, clearly embarrassed. "S-S-Shut up! I was just playing around!"

_Well it seems they are quite calm about this,_ Homura thought while approaching them.

"Since everyone is here," Mami said, "all that's left is to find a way out."

Madoka nodded. "Yes, but the exit's locked. It looked like there was a keyhole though, so there must be a key."

"I see…" Mami seemed to be calmly assessing the situation.

Then the led screen on the watches on all their right wrists lit up, but this time instead of a clear picture of their apparent captor, only static showed. Nevertheless the same creepy voice from before resounded clearly through the tiny speaker in the watch.

"Bababum! It seems the four of you were able to escape the airtight room!"

"Oi! You'd better let us out of here now, you stupid doll!" Kyoko yelled.

"What do you want, you creep?!" Sayaka added furiously.

"Yes, yes…" the voice replied with ease, "if you want to get out, then just… find… the… key…"

Madoka squirmed uneasily. "Just let us out!"

But their captor ignored her. "Let me just leave you with this warning: when an animal is cornered, they will do just about _anything_ to find a way out…"

The creepy voice snickered for a moment before there was only static. Moments later, the screen's light turned off and silence resonated through the empty corridor.

The girls looked at one another with worry. They weren't sure what their captor was planning, but they knew that it wouldn't be good….

End of Chapter One.

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**Hope you enjoyed chapter 1!**

Please review! XD


	2. Rising Unease

Next chapter, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (c) not us**

**Claimer: everything else (c) mostly us. **

**Please R&R!**

* * *

**Chapter Two - Rising Unease**

"..." the five girls stared at their watches in silence.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Sayaka ended up breaking the ice. "Ha, this is probably a prank! Well, whoever set this up did a excellent job!..."

Even though Sayaka tried to lighten the mood, Homura could see that Sayaka was putting on a false facade. _The tension was so thick it was suffocating,_ thought Homura.

"Hey guys, we just need to play this stupid game to escape right?" Kyoko exclaimed, "It won't be too bad with an idiot like that as the game master. He couldn't even count that there were five of us!"

"Yeah! Haha I thought I misheard, but since you heard it too then he really _did_ say four! What a big blunder for the opening speech!" chuckled Sayaka.

Everyone's face seemed to brighten up a bit, and Madoka and Homura looked at each other and smiled, relieved that the encouraging mood seemed to be catching on.

"Ok, so since we are going to try to find a way out, we should split into groups." Mami explained.

"Alright! Sayaka and I will go explore the corridor where we came from!" says Kyoko, giving them a thumbs-up.

With a nod of confirmation from Mami, the two grasped each other hands and lightly jogged towards the door while laughing.

Mami sighed, a small smile on her face as she watched them disappear. "I don't know which one I should be more surprised at: the situation we're apparently in, or the fact that those two are able to maintain such a positive attitude?" Shaking her head, she looked at Homura and Madoka. "I'm guessing you two are going to go together?"

"Ah yes. How about you, Mami?" Homura asked.

"I didn't explore the corridor where I came out of, so I will go look around there…" Mami answers with a forced smile.

_That's just like Mami. Trying to put up a strong front for her juniors so we don't have to worry so much,_ thought Homura.

"Ok, I'll get going now," Mami determined resolutely, turning around and heading off.

Suddenly, Madoka shouted out after her, "Wait!"

Mami turns around with confusion plastered across her face.

"Ah," Homura accidently murmured, seeing the tears that began to gloss Mami's eyes.

"How about we go explore your corridor together? We already explored ours and it will be less scary and lonely if we go in a group of three!" Madoka suggested brightly, smiling gently.

Homura nodded her head in agreement.

Mami opened her mouth to say something but nothing seemed to come out. Mami then looked down, wiped away her forming tears, smiled, and said, "Please do!"

After coming to an agreement the three girls proceeded to the door. Madoka and Homura were walking in front looking around while Mami was behind them, slowly walking and whispering "...four…" with a furrowed brow.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

As they were walking down the corridor they noticed a fancy looking oak door with gold trimming and a gold handle on the left. Centred in the middle was a gold circular contraption with a hole in the shape of a ring. When Homura pulled on the handle, the door didn't budge an inch. It felt like the handle was attached to a wall rather than a door.

"Hmm, it doesn't seem to budge." Homura murmured.

"Let me try…" Mami said, grasping the handle and pulling hard. "Urgggg!"

But the door remained firm, and Mami sighed heavily, giving up as she released the latch. "Yes that seems to be the case," she agreed, "Though... that slot on the middle of the door looks suspicious… could it be a key hole?"

"Yes, it looks exactly like the keyhole that was on the door of the room I was locked in," Homura responded.

"How'd you open it?" questioned Madoka.

"I used a ring I found from ripping up the bed." Homura answered.

"Ah, well do you still have the ring?" asked Mami.

"Well I was in such a panic at the time since Madoka was in danger, so I left the room without bothering to retrieve back the ring…" Homura said disappointingly.

"Well we can get it later, let's continue to search this corridor," Mami determined.

They proceeded along till there was a door on the left side and a wall covered with moss on the right side. Mami went and tugged on the door and to the three girl's surprise, it responded with a mild _click_ and creaked open. Inside appeared to be a kitchen like the ones found in restaurants. While Mami and Homura peered inside, Madoka was closely inspecting the moss on the wall.

Right when Mami and Homura were about to walk in, Madoka called out to them. "Hey guys, there seems to be something written behind this moss," she pointed out.

Homura and Mami turned and looked at Madoka, following her finger that was pointing to the top left corner where the moss ended. There seemed to be a symbol written in red there. With a more closer inspection Homura and Mami were able to make out the letter "T".

"Hm, there does seem to be something written behind here. Maybe it is a clue on how to get out of this place?" Mami pondered.

Homura tried to rip the moss off but it stubbornly held on, proving that it was too difficult to peel off the wall.

"This is going to take hours to remove it by hand…" Homura murmured in frustration.

"Why don't we see if we can find anything from the janitor room back at the corridor we came from?" suggested Madoka.

"Oh that's right!" Homura agreed, recalling the small equipment-filled room they had encountered earlier, "There were many chemicals on the shelves. I'm sure one of them can be used to remove the moss."

"Then it is settled," Mami decided, "let's head back and go to the janitor room."

The three girls walked back to the foyer and into the corridor Madoka and Homura had come from. During that walk, the girls were able to discover a few things about their watches. Their watches had the function of a walkie talkie, a flashlight, and a map showing where they had already went. Using the map, they easily reached the janitor room without having to pull on every door to check if it was unlocked.

"Hm… ah here's a scrub, some rubber gloves, and a bucket." Mami said, putting the items on the ground in the hall.

"Oh and here is some moss and algae remover!" Madoka exclaimed gleefully.

"Ok let's head back," Homura determined.

She was about to go back to the foyer when Mami stopped her.

"Wait," she told her. "Before we go we should retrieve the ring that you mentioned earlier."

"Ah yes, it's at the end of this corridor," Homura agreed, "Let's go."

"Mm!" nodded Madoka.

xxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

"...the ring…" Homura murmured.

The three girls went back to the room Homura had previously been locked in, and to their dismay, the ring was on the floor in fragments.

"Hm, that's too bad…" Mami sighed in disappointment.

"It's ok Homura," Madoka tried to reassure, patting her on the shoulder, "there is probably another one of these rings lying around somewhere."

"Yeah…" Homura stood back up after crouching to pick up the ring fragments.

She turned and looked at the room. Nothing seemed to changed since she left, however, the suitcase that had previously been sealed was open. Puzzled, Homura took a closer look at the suitcase. Homura recalled that the suitcase appeared to require a ring to open, and based on the fact that it did not appear to have been tampered with, assumed that someone had used a ring to open it.

"Huh… the suitcase was locked before…" Homura murmured.

"Hm? Are you sure?" Mami asked.

"Positive," Homura responded confidently.

… They stared at the empty suitcase for a moment, wondering just _who_ was it that opened it? What had the suitcase contained? Where were its contents now?

"Let's not think about it too much," Homura decided, "What's important is getting out of here. We got the moss remover so let's head back and see what is hidden behind that wall."

The three headed back to the moss covered wall with their newfound equipment. They poured the murky green liquid from one of the bottles into the bucket and Mami put on the rubber gloves.

"Hm, we only have one scrub," Mami pointed out, "so how about I scrub this wall while you two explore the kitchen?"

"Okay, let's go Madoka," Homura said, nodding to her.

"Ok," Madoka responded, returning the nod.

The two went into the kitchen and began searching, trying to either find clues to who had kidnapped and subsequently trapped them, or find anything that could be of use to them. The light in the kitchen was dim, but bearable enough for them to look around. There were broken dishes scattered across the floor and some dirty pots and pans here and there. As they proceeded deeper into the room, suddenly something slammed from behind them! Homura and Madoka whirled around in horror to find that the door had been slammed shut.

Homura's face changed from a surprised face to a frighten one.

_Don't tell me…_ thought Homura.

Homura ran to the door, turned the doorknob, and tried to push the door open. No matter how hard she pressed, the door refused to budge.

"We're trapped…" Homura breathed in horror.

"Oh no…what about Mami?" Madoka gasped, both hands flying to her mouth in alarm.

_Mami…she can open the door from the outside for us,_ thought Homura, a sliver of hope radiating in her chest.

_*Clank Clank*_, Homura smacked the door with her fist. "Mami! Mami! Are you there? We're locked in, open the door for us!" she yelled.

However her cries were futile, as neither of them heard even a peep from the other side of the door. Mami was not responding.

"Mami..?! Are you there?!" Madoka cried out, panic filling her already-trembling voice.

Once again there was no response.

_...does that mean something happened to Mami? Was she attacked by the perpetrator…? _thought Homura.

"Did something happened to Mami..?" Madoka whimpered in a mixture of fear and worry.

"...I don't know," Homura answered honestly, "but we have to escape quick to make sure nothing has happened to her."

Homura examined the door that was confining them to the kitchen. It had no keyhole or even _any _sort of lock on it, for that matter, so it seemed like it was impossible to get out.

_Maybe I can find a screw driver or something to unscrew the door hinges,_ Homura pondered, taking notice of the type of screws used. _However, the screws used for the door are the ones that require a square head screwdriver_.

"...so I can't use a knife…" she murmured aloud.

"It's hopeless... we're stuck here…" Madoka whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes. She too, noticed that there didn't appear to be any sort of lock that they could somehow pry open to release themselves from their apparent prison.

"Let's look around first, don't lose hope," Homura encouraged. She knew that the moment they both lost hope, their captor had already won. The moment they lost hope, they would never be able to escape.

The two girls started searching the kitchen head-to-toe. There were knives, pots, pans, jam, cheese, teacups, and many more things that were useless for their cause. When Homura was searching underneath the sink, she accidently knocked over a can of aerosol. She looked at it and then a sudden headache hit her. It was like someone hammered a nail into her skull.

"Urgh..!" She clutched her head, her facial expression twisting in pain.

The can seemed to slightly jog her memory of something, but she couldn't exactly grasp what that was. Then Madoka accidently knocked over a box of matches and it scattered all over the floor.

"Oops!" Madoka murmured.

Homura turned over and looked at the matches, and her eyes lit up as a sudden epiphany hit her.

_I can use the aerosol can, wrap the matches to it, light it up, and it should make a decent bomb. _Homura mused, _I can use that to blow the doorknob off the door to get the door to open._

"Madoka pass me as many matches as you can find!" yelled Homura.

Madoka blinked at her in confusion for a moment before nodding her head, beginning to gather up the matches. Homura was able to find two aerosol cans under the sink and a box of rubber bands in a drawer. She took the rubber bands and bounded all the matches -which easily equated to over fifty, to each aerosol can. She then proceeded to take several elastics and bind them to the doorknob. Using a roll of paper towel, she made a long rope which she attached one end to the aerosol bombs and held the other end behind a table. She also soaked the rope in cooking oil to increase the flammability.

"Hm, what are you planning?" Madoka asked curiously.

"Watch," Homura responded with a smile, gesturing for Madoka to come over to join her behind the table.

She took one of the remaining matches and struck it on the match box. She lit the rope and the fire ran across the rope and engulfed the aerosol cans.

"Get down!" Homura exclaimed.

Following Homura's command, Madoka ducked behind the table and a few seconds after there was a big explosion. Homura was completely unfazed by the explosion like she was used to them, while Madoka covered her ears while yelling in surprise.

When the smoke settled, Homura and Madoka peeked over the table and looked towards the door. The door had some scorch marks surrounding the used-to-be doorknob.

_I hope this works,_ Homura thought, approaching the door.

Giving it a mild push, the door swung open and Homura smiled in satisfaction.

"You did it Homura! How'd you know how to make that bomb?" asked Madoka.

"I don't know… it just came to my head…" she answered, "Anyway, let's get out of here and find Mami!"

Homura turned back around and saw the once moss-filled wall. Madoka -who was approaching Homura, saw the words and her hands flew over her mouth gasping while Homura furrowed her brows. On the wall, the words _"Trust is easily lost and hard to gain"_ were written with what seemed to be blood. On the floor there was a trickle of red liquid and a bucket knocked over, its content spilled all over the ground.

Madoka shook her head in disbelief, muttering "no…" over and over again, backing up slowly from the wall in fear. Suddenly she stumbled, knocking over a teacup and causing it to break. The piercing sound of the porcelain shattering echoed through the hall, only echoing the resounding unsettling feelings rising in their quickly-sinking hearts.

The end of Chapter Two

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed chapter 2!**

Please review! XD


	3. Friend or Foe?

Next chapter, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (c) not us**

**Claimer: everything else (c) mostly us. **

**Please R&R!**

* * *

**Chapter Three - Friend or Foe?**

Homura looked carefully at the nail covered with fresh blood. "It seems she cut herself on this nail while scrubbing off the moss." Homura guessed. "It's pretty rusted too. I hope she's alright." She observed the trail of blood that led down to the floor then down the corridor. "She must have stepped back after getting cut and knocked over that bucket. Something must have really surprised her if she was going to react like that…but where did she go?"

"Maybe she didn't want us to worry?" suggested Madoka.

"It certainly appears that way." pondered Homura. She continued to observe the cracked wall for more clues as to where they were. "I see lots of crevices here and there. That must have been why the moss was so stubborn." she concluded. Homura didn't know what to make of the cryptic message left for the pair, and she knew full well that standing around wouldn't accomplish much.

"Madoka. Let's return to the foyer. Sayaka and Kyoko should already be back. Mami may have realized that, and left to get help." Homura said.

"Mm," Madoka nodded optimistically.

As the two began walking back towards the foyer, Homura quickly decided to scan the area one last time. It was then that she noticed something she was sure she couldn't have missed before. Propped up, far to the left of the once mossy wall, was a forty-inch painting.

"Wait" she ordered, motioning Madoka over to her. "Madoka, was that always there?"

"I don't remember seeing it.." Madoka pouted. Homura was already walking over to take a closer look at the painting.

"How would we have missed something so big?" Madoka asked.

"There's no way we would have." Homura replied. "It shouldn't have been there before…"

Homura, now standing in front of the painting, inspected it more closely. She noticed nothing out of the ordinary with the painting itself, though she did notice it was dated "1933". Looking all around the painting, she found nothing, hinting that it was moved here while they were locked in the kitchen either.

Maybe we really did miss it..? She pondered. She was beginning to doubt herself.

"There's nothing here. Well, it can't be helped. Let's go Madoka." She said assertively. Shaking off the seeds of doubt, she began walking. Madoka followed suit.

"I wonder what that painting was about," Madoka murmured, still apparently thinking about it. "It looked really weird, don't you think, Homura?"

Homura smiled. "It was surrealism," she explained, "An artistic movement that began in the 1920s that sought to combine dreams and reality. Ms. Saotome told us in class the other day, remember?"

The pink-haired girl brightened. "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed, "I remember now! She said that those kinds of paintings were supposed to give us a sense of irregularity, right?"

Homura chuckled. "I'm glad you've been paying attention in class, Madoka," she teased lightly.

Madoka shyly scratched her cheek. "Ehehehe," she murmured. "Well, what did you think about the flowers? I thought they were pretty to look at. It gave that room a more… welcoming feeling."

Homura stopped in her tracks and turned to face Madoka, all humour vanished from her face. "Madoka…" she began, "why do you think we're being forced to play this game? If we're being punished… then why are we allowed to walk freely?"

She blinked at the suddenness of the question. "E-Eh? I'm… I'm not sure why," she replied honestly. "Maybe they're trying to test us or something? We get punished if we do something wrong, right? Nothing bad happened to us so far. Mami got hurt when the door closed on us so I guess she must have done something wrong during the game."

Homura's eyes widened. "You don't think she actually-"

"Broke the rules?" Madoka finished.

Homura was at a loss for words. She could only look away as doubt began consuming her thoughts once more.

"I don't think Mami would be that careless," Madoka said,"Something or someone must have attacked her as punishment."

Homura was silent. It was obvious that the girls were thrown into a nightmare, yet.. she felt as if she had already experienced much worse. Her memory was foggy. She assured herself that she couldn't have experienced anything worse than what they were going through now, but the seed of doubt had been planted. She turned and started walking again, a heavy silence weighing her down.

Why.. why can't I remember? She wondered, filled with confusion.

As Homura neared the door to the foyer, she didn't reach for the handle right away. Instead, she turned to face Madoka once more, this time, her face adorned with a troubled expression.

Madoka's eyes slanted in worry. "Homura?"

Homura pursed her lips together. "Madoka…" she began hesitantly, "what if this is all a dream? What if… when you woke up, you were the only person left in the world? Would you… would you choose to wake up?"

Madoka said nothing for a few long moments as the question sank into her. "I would," she said.

Before waiting for Homura's response, she reached past her and opened the door to the foyer, a cheerful smile returning to her face. "Let's go," she said, passing through the doorway.

"Yohoho! Find any treasure, mateys?" Sayaka called, waving as Homura and Madoka entered the foyer from the corridor. Then she noticed that Mami was missing from their group. "Hm? Where's that scallywag Mami at?"

"We got separated from her…" Homura explained, "we were wondering if she headed back to the foyer."

"We think she cut herself on a nail in the wall," Madoka added worriedly, "she's injured. She shouldn't be wandering around on her own."

"Well considering it's Mami, she probably doesn't want to make us worry so much. She probably went and patched herself up before coming back here." Kyoko assured optimistically, "She'll show up eventually."

"Yeah," Sayaka agreed, "she's probably on her way back here right now! Or who knows? Maybe she found something interesting!"

"I really hope so.." Homura murmured.

"Man, you're always so unoptimistic." Sayaka groaned.

"Do you think Mami closed the door on us? Because she didn't want us to see that she was injured?" Madoka suggested nervously.

Homura looked down slightly "I don't think.." her voice began to trail off, the rest becoming inaudible.

"Mami would never do that!" Sayaka exclaimed, interrupting Homura. "She's not the kind of person who would betray her friends like that!"

The unsettled feeling inside Madoka quickly subsided. "Yeah…" she agreed with a nod. "It's just there was nobody else but Mami, Homura and I, so I guess I just jumped to conclusions. Ehehehe..." she said as she scratched her head.

Then a memory flashed through Homura's mind. "Bababum! It seems the four of you were able to escape the airtight room!"

...Four… the doll couldn't have made such a simple mistake, could it have? There must have been a reason. Could one of us not be playing this game? If so.. then could one of us be a traitor? Mami.. I don't want to believe it... no one else wants to believe it either.. but was she really the one who locked us in? Homura pondered.

"Hold on… we can't just ignore what Madoka said earlier…" she prodded. "I don't think someone who could set all this up would make such a simple mistake of stating there is only four of us when clearly there are five. I don't think I should be saying this, but… what if one of us isn't playing this "game"? What if one of us is a part of this scheme, and is betraying us all? I'm sorry to say this… but right now, I'm starting to believe that Mami may be deceiving us all." suggested Homura.

"I really hate to admit it, but she might be right…" Kyoko added with some reluctance, "the note that I found in one of the rooms we searched would make sense then."

Pulling out a piece of old parchment paper from her pocket, she read the words inscripted on it aloud. "The closer the friend, the worse the enemy. Trickery is easily concealed by trust."

"Come on, not you too Kyoko! Are you going to let a piece of paper decide who you can or can't trust? How do you even know if it was Mami who closed the door on Madoka and Homura? There isn't any proof at all! " Sayaka protested angrily.

"Ah…" Madoka murmured, her gaze lingered past them.

Homura looked at Madoka and saw that she was looking at the corridor they just came out of. She turned to look and noticed a figure with blond curly pigtails and a pale face.

Sayaka beamed in both a mixture of relief and excitement. "Mami! You're sa-"

"I'm not a traitor…" Mami whispered, looking deeply hurt.

"Mami..?" she murmured, her eyebrows slanting in worry.

"You heard all of that huh…" Kyoko sighed, unsure of how to fix the situation.

"Mami! It's not like that!" Madoka cried out, "We were just-!"

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Mami wailed, tears trickling down her pale cheeks. "Friends are supposed to trust each other! Believe in each other! How can I call you guys my friends when you guys don't even trust me!"

Homura shook her head. "...Mami we can expla-"

"NO!" the blonde practically screamed, her voice cracking, "I'll find my own way out! Alone!" Her voice quieted down as she bowed her head, hiding her eyes. "Good day to you all..."

Mami turned on her heels, and the candle flames on both sides of the door wavered. For a split second Homura thought she had seen a wicked smile form on Mami's shadow just before she disappeared down the dark corridor, leaving the four girls stunned and speechless.

Sayaka was the first to snap back to reality, whirling to the others. "We have to go after her!"

"Of course!" Kyoko exclaimed.

Madoka and Homura merely nodded their agreement.

They gave chase to the one they unanimously decided to be "a true friend". When they caught up to Mami, she was standing beside a window which -to their surprise, was open.

"Mami!" Sayaka exclaimed.

Mami glanced over at them, her eyes red and puffy from crying. She then turned back to the window.

"NOOOO!" cried Sayaka. She quickly ran towards the window, the others right behind her, but it was too late as Mami disappeared out the window.

In her disbelief, Sayaka slowly slid down to the floor, her eyes devoid of energy and replaced with tears. "No…."

"Sayaka! Hurry up and jump out after her! You can make that jump!" shouted Kyoko.

"Huh?" Sayaka looked up at Kyoko who was scolding her while on the window sill.

"We're still on the first floor, now come on." Kyoko scowled as she leaped out the window.

"Oh…" Sayaka blushed from embarrassment, quickly wiping away her tears.

"Now isn't the time to be crying!" Homura hissed, "We have to catch Mami and apologize to her!"

"Mmhm!" Madoka agreed, "We have to find her!"

Sayaka quickly got up. "Ah, my bad! Let's go!"

Without a second thought, Sayaka jumped out the window, earning a sigh from Kyoko, who could hear the entire conversation from the ground.

Homura and Madoka chuckled before they leaped out after their friends. Just like what Kyoko said, the window was actually only four feet up. The girls landed with ease and they all started to shout Mami's name hoping she would respond.

We can barely see in this fog… Homura thought.

She had already seen what lay outside their prison; a huge, dense forest ensured that escape would never be so simple. In the few hours that had passed since then, a thick fog had descended upon the forest, making it difficult to see even an arm's length in front of yourself. Inside or outside, the girls were stuck in a labyrinth, but unfortunately for them, they were cursed with obscurity, darkness and misdirection. Which was worse? The man-made prison with a keeper whose aims are unclear? Or the natural labyrinth, whose sole purpose is to force all who enter to fight for their own survival? It was thoughts like these that made it abundantly clear how bleak the situation was for Homura and her friends, but the worst option out of all of them, she thought, would be to give up. No matter how scared she was right at that moment, she felt deep in her heart that she was capable of being strong. She glanced over at Madoka, who was barely visible amidst the thick fog. Yes. She was certain of it.

"This fog is something else. Lemme tell ya, we didn't have fog like this back in Kazamino. Be careful." Kyoko commented.

"Let's stick together. It won't do us much good if we get lost by being separated." Homura instructed.

They walked into the fog with Sayaka and Kyoko holding hands and Madoka and Homura holding hands. They walked straight for a bit shouting out Mami's name.

"Ah!" Madoka fell while dragging Homura to the ground. A loud thud echoed throughout the thick fog as the grass and leaves rustled on impact.

"Oww…" Homura groaned.

"What happened?" said Sayaka as she turned around, "Oh ho~ What do we have here?" She snickered.

"Huh..?" Homura responded. She then noticed the position she was in. In order to prevent Madoka from hurting herself, she had embraced her and fell back first onto the ground. Madoka was laying on top of her, her right hand in Homura's left, and her right in Homura's slightly dishevelled hair. Madoka's infectious smile and warm gaze conveyed genuine gratitude and care for Homura. Homura looked into Madoka's eyes for a split second before blushing and having to look away.

Madoka, noticing Homura's adorably shy reaction couldn't help but blush herself. She quickly stood up and extended her arm towards Homura, offering to help her up as well.

Homura grabbed her hand and quickly stood up, then started bowing frantically saying "I'm sorry!"

All four of them laughed out loud at the awkward situation. Suddenly, all of their watches flickered on.

"Ah! Something is playing on our watches!" Sayaka exclaimed.

"Oi… isn't that Mami?" Kyoko gasped, squinting at the hazy image.

Even though it was foggy, they were able to make out the shadow of a girl with a somewhat large bust and curly pigtails. She appeared to be sipping tea at a table with two chairs, herself on one of them. Across from her was sitting an unknown girl with cat ears, tiny pigtails, and long hair flowing down her small back. They seemed to be talking about something, but to the four girls' dismay there didn't seem to be any audio.

Then, the little girl stood up and pointed at Mami. Unfazed Mami continued drinking her tea.

"Are they.. arguing?" Sayaka guessed.

"Who is this girl…?" Kyoko murmured.

Who could she be?… were we not the only ones that are trapped here? wondered Homura.

All of a sudden the once-little girl turned into some sort of monster that looked like it had came straight out of a horror movie. It had a tubular body, a pointy nose, and it looked like it had wings attached to its head. Even from just the appearance of the shadow, they were able to see its gigantic mouth with razor-sharp teeth that could tear flesh off in one bite. It quickly flew across the table and Mami jumped back knocking over her chair and dropping her teacup.

*Chomp. sssssk.*

The audio turned on right at that moment. The girls were forced to listen to the sound of flesh being ripped apart, arteries being torn and burst, and worst of all, bones being broken, then crushed. The eerie silence of the forest served only to cruelly amplify what was already a torturous, poisonous buffet for the ears. It held no remorse, and neither did the monster.

"MAMMMIIIIII! " screamed Madoka, but despite the horrifying event, she couldn't tear her eyes away.

"You've got to be joking…" Kyoko breathed in disbelief.

"No...this can't be happening..." Sayaka muttered as she covered her mouth.

Homura looked at her watch with a disgusted look. Then all of their watches turned off and reverted back to the original screen. The fog around the four girls started to thicken.

"W-What?!" Homura exclaimed, looking around frantically.

"Homura!" cried Madoka as she reached out to Homura.

"Madoka!" cried Homura, also following suit.

At that moment, the fog became so thick it was as if they quite literally had their heads in the clouds...like a white veil had been draped over the girls' eyes.

"Madoka…?" Homura called. She swatted her hands trying to get rid of the fog while walking towards where Madoka should be. But there was no response. Slowly, the fog continued to thicken, until no light could pass; a black veil had been cast over her eyes. "Madoka?" she yelled. "Sayaka? Kyoko?" she yelled again, in quick succession. "... Mami?" she whispered.

Fear started to engulf Homura's mind. A cold shiver ran down her spine.

A-Am I... alone..? she thought, tears welling in her eyes.

This feeling… Madoka being taken away from me… It feels so familiar… Madoka.. please don't leave me… thought Homura, wrapping her arms around herself. Unsure why such a horrible feeling could be so familiar, she could do nothing but despair. Her memory was still hazy, and it was showing no signs of returning... She wasn't sure she wanted it to return.

After a brief silence which felt like hours, the fog started to clear. Homura glanced frantically around while wiping away her tears so she could see better. Row upon row of red spider lilies greeted her in a garden she was not familiar with.

"Madoka! Madoka are you there?" Homura yelled.

Homura squeezed her hands together against her chest praying for a response.

"...Homura? Homura where are you?"

Madoka's voice rang out clearly, washing away the fear that was strangling Homura. A powerful gust carried away the remaining fog, scattering the petals of the lilies and forcing Homura to close her eyes. When it finally subsided, the fog was cleared and she found herself back in the foyer. Madoka stood a meter away from her, Kyoko was standing by the staircase, and Sayaka on the ground looking around.

"What… happened…?" Kyoko asked.

"How did we get back here..?" Homura murmured, looking around.

"We're alive?" Sayaka cried, "But how?..."

"That was scary…" Madoka whimpered.

"Well anyways, I'm glad we're all fine." Kyoko sighed.

A sound echoed through the dim foyer.

*clink clink clink clink*

A ring with a yellow crystal rolled down the stairs in the middle of the foyer. It bounced down until it reached ground level and finally stopped after it rolled and hit Kyoko's shoes. However, nobody paid attention to this since they were too busy looking up the stairs. On the wall where the staircase split off into two different paths…was the body that was wearing the senior year uniform of their school. There was also the body of a girl who wore a cute pink dress,small pig tailed tied with yellow ribbon, and long silver hair. She seemed to be an elementary school girl. However… the body with the senior uniform was missing a head. Blood stained the whole upper torso and was hung with a fish hook and line on the wall. The little girl was impaled with a rustic metal pipe through the stomach with blood dripping down her legs and was stuck on the wall.

Silence flooded them all as they took in the gruesomeness of the scene before them.

"NOOOOOO!" Sayaka screamed.

"This… can't be…!" Madoka wailed.

"Wha.. What the hell.." Kyoko muttered ruefully, and looked away.

"..." Homura quietly looked at the bodies with wide eyes.

At that moment their watches flickered on, and the girls stared in horror at the words written across the black screen.

"There is no escape…"

**End of Chapter Three**

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**Hope you enjoyed chapter 3!**

Please review! XD


	4. Recipe for Disaster

Next chapter, enjoy! Sorry for late post exams and things happened...

**Disclaimer: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (c) not us**

**Claimer: everything else (c) mostly us.**

**Please R&R!**

* * *

**Chapter Four - Recipe for Disaster**

"Where's that bastard who did this… I'll kill him…" mumbled Kyoko.

"Sadly someone already beat you to it. That little girl.. doesn't she seem to fit the silhouette that attacked Mami?" explained Homura.

"But how?! That doesn't make sense. If she killed Mami then who killed _her_? What happened during that short period of time when we were in the fog?" yelled out Sayaka, interrupting Kyoko.

"Right now, I want to know how we got back to the mansion. It was almost like we were teleported. Or we never even left in the first place...could it be some sort of illusion?…" pondered Homura.

"Huh… that's true. You bring up a good point. It is like… what's that word again…" Kyoko paused in thought, still gritting her teeth holding back her anger.

"A dream? A game? Like a virtual reality death game where we have to climb floors to clear some levels and escape?" Sayaka suggested.

"No you idiot. Now shut up and let me think." Kyoko snapped back.

"Sorry… I was just trying to lighten the mood…" she mumbled defensively, looking away.

_Facing such painful situations head on...it doesn't look like she can handle it,_ thought Homura as she took a glimpse at her.

"Umm, what is it?" asked Sayaka with a puzzled look.

"No, it's nothing." responded Homura.

Madoka sniffled, still crouched down to the ground, silently crying. "Kyoko..."

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Kyoko.

"C-could it be something like a...labyrinth…?" Madoka answered hesitantly.

"Yeah that's the word!" Kyoko exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

"Okay well… we can figure out what caused us to return back to where we started later. For now we need to take down the person that did this to us. ...We should also get the bodies down from there..." Homura determined seriously while directing her finger to the cruel display of death.

"Yeah… getting the bodies down is the proper thing to do…" Madoka spoke out after wiping away her tears and getting back up on her feet. "I don't want to see them like this anymore."

Everyone nodded in agreement and proceeded in doing this morally-crushing task. Madoka and Homura pulled two of the multiple chairs on the side and placed them on the left and right side of the lifeless Mami. Sayaka went and grabbed Mami by the left leg with Madoka on the chair supporting Mami's body by the left arm. Kyoko and Homura was on the right side supporting the right leg and the right arm.

"Ready… set… lift!" Sayaka directed.

All four of them lifted Mami's body up. This put less tension on the fishing hook that pierced through and hung Mami by her blood-soaked nape.

"We are almost there!" shouted Sayaka, encouraging the others to press on.

"Mmmm…! Urgh….! …!" Madoka, Kyoko, and Homura struggled hard to lift Mami higher up than she already was. After a moment of struggle the hook came off, which in turn threw the balance of the whole group off.

"Whoa! Watch out!" cried Sayaka and Kyoko.

Maybe it was the sweat on their hands, or the sudden shift in weight… either way, they ended up dropping Mami's body with a sickening _thump_, watching as it slid down to the first floor leaving a trail of blood in its wake. To their dismay, it had provided them with a perfect view of Mami's headless neck.

"No!" Madoka gasped, twisting her head away from the gore.

"I...think I'm going to… Urmp!...Hrrrmf!..." rasped Sayaka, covering her mouth.

"..." Homura and Kyoko stayed silent with a disgusted look on their face.

While they avoided looking at the headless body, Homura and Kyoko went down and supported the corpse upright and leaned it against the left side on the staircase.

"Well let's keep going. Next up is that little girl up there…" Kyoko said.

"You two can rest. Kyoko and I can probably get her down," Homura informed, wishing to save Madoka from anymore agony.

"Please do…" Madoka whimpered.

"I'll take you up on that offer… Urp…!" whispered Sayaka who almost couldn't keep her lunch in her belly.

Getting the small corpse down was much faster and easier. Homura and Kyoko both stood on the two chairs placed in front of the body and then they both pulled the pipe that impaled the unfortunate girl's stomach. The pipe slid out and the body hit the ground with a sickening and wet thud.

"Sorry about that." mumbled Kyoko.

They carried her body and placed her right beside the headless Mami.

"What do we do now?…" asked Sayaka.

"I don't know…" Homura responded.

Homura saw the ring which rolled down the staircase a while back. She was too shocked by Mami's death to even notice it when it had first rolled down the stairs.

"This is… We can use this…"Homura whispered to herself.

Homura bit her lip as she slipped the ring into her pocket, pretending that nothing happened. Now was definitely not the right time to bring up the ring.

Suddenly a loud smash echoed throughout the foyer.

"...How can Mami just go off and die like that?!" Sayaka shouted. She punched the side of the wall again leaving a deeper dent.

_That… looked like it hurt… _thought Homura. She could see Sayaka's right hand tremble against the wall, her already-soaked sapphire eyes glossed over with fresh tears.

"Why did we ever even suspect her in the first place… we're so stupid…!" Kyoko was frustrated and turned away.

Homura suddenly noticed two streaks of sorrowful liquid slide down her cheeks.

"Ah… when did I…?" _When did I start crying? _thought Homura. Tears flowed from her eyes, but she was confused. Mami had died, but… she wasn't sure that's what these tears were for.

_Am I crying… because of my feeling of powerlessness? Why does this feel so familiar… like this happened before…_ wondered Homura.

The four girls remained where they were, crying and mourning for their deceased comrade and friend.

After the moment has passed the girls recollected themselves.

"Okay, let's go. We need to find a way outta here. Not only for our sake but for Mami's as well. We gotta bring justice for her death and beat the living crap out of that guy!" Kyoko said determinedly.

"Aye, I second that! I won't rest till this bastard is caught!" cheered Sayaka.

"Mmm I agree! Let's stop crying about what has happened and move forward. We must not lose hope!" says Madoka.

"Yes, let's keep going. We aren't going to escape by standing in the foyer all day." said Homura.

"But we don't have a clue on where to go next. What should we do?" asked Kyoko.

"Sayaka, Kyoko, I want to search the corridor you two came out of,." replied Homura.

"Hold on now, why would you want to do that?" Kyoko questioned, taken aback.

"Madoka and I don't know anything about what's in there. I want to see it with my own eyes. Feel free to search in our corridor afterwards too." said Homura.

"Hey! What the hell?! We searched every inch of that corridor and didn't find a thing! Are you telling me you don't trust what we told you?!" snapped Sayaka.

"No, Sayaka. It's okay. It's not a bad idea.. I mean, we're not detectives or anything, what if we did miss something? Having two more sets of eyes will help. Besides.. it's not like we have any idea where to go next." explained Kyoko.

"You're siding with her?! She just slapped us both in the face, saying she doesn't trust us!" yelled Sayaka, pointing furiously at Homura.

Homura simply stood and watched on; a cold, focussed look on her face.

"The hell's your problem? We're all friends here. There's no way that's what she meant.. she just wants to double check, right Homura?" asked Kyoko, casually.

Homura looked as if she was about to respond, but Madoka spoke before Homura could say anything.

"Of course. Homura wouldn't do something like that, Sayaka. I'm sorry if you felt offended.. but can you two make up? We can't be having fights if we want to escape."

"Rrrrrgh.." Sayaka paused. Clearly she was still furious, but she also knew Madoka was right. If she couldn't trust her closest friends, then why would they trust her? "Fine.." said Sayaka, finally. She swallowed her frustrations for the good of the group.

Sayaka bowed before saying "I apologize for my accusations earlier, please forgive me."

"I apologize as well." said Homura.

The situation had been defused for now. Kyoko sighed heavily, as if releasing the weight of the situation before leading the group towards their goal.

"We think this corridor leads to an entertainment room. The room we woke up in had a bunch of computers, a few TVs, a DDR machine, a pool table, an actual indoor pool..." began Kyoko.

"...It's like the perfect place to live!" finished Sayaka. "Though I'm not sure you would think so, right Homura?"

"Oi, would you just back off already?" said Kyoko, sternly.

"... Whatever" whispered Sayaka as she opened the door in front of them. "I'm going on ahead. Madoka, can you come with me?"

"S-sure!" replied Madoka, surprised. Sayaka was already storming down the corridor, so Madoka had to break into a light jog to catch up to her.

Homura and Kyoko watched Sayaka and Madoka disappear past a corner that led to the recreation room. The two stood there silently for a few moments before Kyoko broke the silence.

"You know, you really pissed Sayaka off." she noted.

"..." Homura had nothing to say about the subject.

"Be straight with me. Why do you want to explore this room? I defended you back there, but I know for a fact that we didn't miss anything." asked Kyoko, firmly.

Homura's eyes narrowed slightly. "You haven't noticed?" she noted, "First, we're kept from leaving this place. Then, one of us is dead with someone we don't even know. Someone wants to kill us… the question is _who_?"

Kyoko scoffed, turning away with a huff. "And what does that have to do with our corridor?" she demanded. She paused for a moment before whirling back to Homura in horror. "Wait, you can't be suggesting…?!"

"Don't worry," Homura assured, "That's not it. Kyoko, what do you think would happen if Sayaka found out there's no way out?"

The redhead pursed her lips together in frustration. "Honestly, that wouldn't end well," she admitted, "She'd lose it."

Homura dipped her head in agreement. "That's why I want to see what's in there myself. We should keep this to ourselves from now on… or things get much worse," she explained. "If we let them search for an exit, and we search for the killer, we'll be accomplishing more than we would have otherwise."

Kyoko snorted in amusement. "Wow, I didn't know you had it in you," she commented, "I'm impressed. Though, you should be easier on Sayaka… she's more fragile than she looks."

"I know," Homura responded, bowing deeply, "I apologize."

"Hey, hey!" Kyoko exclaimed, "Don't be so formal. Honest mistake, yeah?"

"Actually… there's one other thing," Homura began.

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"How much can you remember about before we were kidnapped?" she asked. "My memory is foggy."

Kyoko nodded. "I was worried about bringing this up too," she agreed. "Thought I was crazy, but yeah, my memory's kinda messed up too."

Homura looked away, hesitant to say what she was about to say. She took a deep breath, and slowly raised her head, making sure to look Kyoko right in the eyes. For an instant, she thought she saw Kyoko blushing, but it didn't matter. She needed to let her know, and so, with courage, she spoke.

Homura hesitated. "I feel like… I already know about a fragile Sayaka," she began carefully, "and… I'm already used to seeing Mami die."

Kyoko's eyes went wide with shock. That quickly changed to an expression of confusion coupled with anger.

"What the hell are you saying?!" she demanded. "How could you-"

But before she could finish, they heard frantic footsteps coming from the direction of the entertainment centre. Sayaka was sprinting towards them, her face pale with a terrified expression on her face.

"You two! W-we… Aaaah!" she exclaimed, "Just get over here! You need to see this!"

As quickly as she appeared, she ran back the way she came. Clearly, something had seriously spooked her. Homura and Kyoko exchanged glances, Homura's emotionless gaze contrasting Kyoko's angered, confused and worried face.

"I'll give you a good punch later," she growled, "but right now, we need to go!"

Homura nodded and the two ran after Sayaka. After turning the corner, they could see the door to the entertainment centre was wide open, so they continued full speed into the room.

"What?!" Kyoko shouted, "What is it?!"

Sayaka simply pointed at the ceiling. There it was, in giant red letters was written "In the blink of an eye, the enemy becomes the ally. The ally becomes the enemy. Which will you choose to keep close? The wise win the game of betrayal...and of the dead."

Kyoko gasped, "That's.. no!" She turned to face Homura "That wasn't there when we first investigated the room, I swear!"

"Y-Yeah, you have to believe us!" Sayaka said nervously. She was clearly panicking.

Homura remained silent for a long while. She glanced over at Kyoko, whose face clearly demonstrated that she was at a complete loss. What was certain was that the bloody writing on the ceiling wasn't there before. Kyoko would have no reason to be so surprised if it was. Homura believed in her. Sayaka and Madoka both had expressions of terror, coupled with panic on their faces. Homura was unsure of what they could have been thinking, but this discovery clearly taxed them greatly. She was in no position to deny that they were telling the truth.

Homura nodded. "It's okay. I believe you. Kyoko. Let's finish searching this room."

"R-Right," she murmured, "Of course."

While Kyoko and Homura were searching the room, Madoka and Sayaka stepped outside. It looked as if they were having a conversation, but Homura couldn't hear what they were saying. It didn't bother her though, as she was mostly concerned with finding any hints pertaining to whoever left that message. After searching the entire area thoroughly, Kyoko concluded that nothing else was different, and they all returned to the foyer together.

"Well, we're back here. What now?" Kyoko asked once more.

"Let's split up this time. Though we should travel in pairs, just to be safe." Homura turned on her watch and turned to the map.

"I think Madoka and I should go back to the corridor we first came out of because…" Homura pulled out the ring that she picked up. It had a yellow gem which seemed to have a crack on the gem going from one side to the other.

"There was a door in that corridor with a ring shaped keyhole. We'll see if we can open it and find anything. Maybe we'll find a way out." Homura suggested.

"Huh? I thought you were gonna let me and Kyoko explore your corridor. What happened to that? Did you expect us to follow you obediently? What makes you think you can just go ahead and be our leader? Just because Mami's gone? Get over yourself!" yelled Sayaka, her tone becoming angrier as she went on.

"Be quiet Sayaka! What does Mami have to do with that? I thought we settled this already. Just stop acting like a prick and accept that what's in the past is in the past." Kyoko scolded.

"What?! Why are you siding with he-..." Sayaka was going to argue back at Kyoko when Homura interrupted.

"You don't have to listen to my suggestion. I was offering an answer to Kyoko's question, which is something more than what you were doing. We need to split into pairs. Madoka and I know that corridor best, and I have the ring. If you came with us, you'd be leaving Kyoko behind. Or, was that your intent? Besides, I don't think you'd want to come with me, would you? Anything else, Ms. Miki Sayaka?" Homura haughtily responded.

"Why you…" Sayaka began angrily.

"Now now… let's not fight…" chided Madoka.

It was obvious that Homura was antagonizing Sayaka in response to her antagonizing Homura, but it isn't as if there was no purpose to it. Homura realized that creating a rift between Sayaka and herself would push Sayaka to pair with either Madoka or Kyoko. If Homura could always push to be paired with Madoka, and Kyoko, knowing the full extent of the situation, could push to be paired with Sayaka, both pairs would be ideal. Ideal in the sense that each would have one person searching for the killer, and one searching for an escape. Kyoko, knowing this, attempted to push the situation in the right direction.

"Come on Sayaka. You've taken worse before. Let's just go with what she suggested, it's the best possible way forward." Kyoko tried to reason.

"Fine! I'll go finish exploring the corridor that Homura couldn't finish. Hmph." Sayaka turned around and started walking towards the door where Homura, Madoka and Mami previously explored.

"Sorry Homura, I'll try to calm Sayaka down. Maybe we'll figure out why Mami was so… paranoid before the… well, you know. Anyways, see ya." Kyoko dashed after Sayaka who was already half way up the staircase. "Wait up Sayaka!"

"You've been giving me a hard time, you know that Kyoko? You're starting to get on my nerves too..." said Sayaka who responded to Kyoko's callout.

The two girls entered the right door on top of the right staircase and disappeared along with their constant bickering.

"...I hope Kyoko is able to calm Sayaka down…" mumbled Madoka.

"Yeah…" Homura replied, also mumbling

_Kyoko knew what she was talking about. Mami's usually calm and collected… it's why Sayaka didn't hesitate to consider her our leader. It would take a lot for her to be so rash and make leaps like that. Something must have really gotten to her… _

"Let's head back to where we started." said Homura.

Madoka nodded and both of them went back to where it all began; back to the corridor where they woke up in. They stopped in front of the old wooden door where there was a keyhole shaped as a ring just above the handle.

"Well… here goes…" Homura began.

Homura placed the ring with the cracked yellow gem into the slot. The keyhole proceeded to contract and crush the ring, causing it to shatter into pieces. A shiver went down Homura's spine. _Did it get chillier or something?_ thought Homura. She turned the doorknob and opened the door.

*Creeeeeeeeeeeeak*

The door opened slowly. Inside was pitch black. The light from the hallways protruded into the darkness revealing only a single wooden table and a pink notebook with the words "My Diary" written in large, girly handwriting on the cover. The name "Nagisa Momoe" was written cutely right below it. ...with a splotch of blood splashed across the front…

**End of Chapter Four**

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**Hope you enjoyed chapter 4!**

Please review! XD


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